Report to British Nuclear Fuels Ltd.

S F Bush with J D Robinson.

Summary

Two cylinders forming the body of a gas centrifuge are to be joined by pushing the ends over a flexible sleave. To ensure the joined parts remain concentric after assembly BNFL conceived the idea of some form of polymer ring moulded to the flexible sleeve to keep it rigid during assembly. The ring is to be discarded after assembly, leaving the cylinders perfectly concentric in the unstressed state. An additional requirement is that the fabrication cost per ring should be low and the process convenient for 50 or more per shift to be made.

The report describes a prototype design and process which meets these requirements. The basic materials are a commercially available epoxide and a silica flour filler. Materials cost per ring is about 10 pence.